The Bount Affair

The Bount Affair is the term used to refer to all the events that took place during the anime-exclusive Bount arc.

First Encounters

Mod-Soul Training

After returning from Soul Society, Ichigo Kurosaki resumes his everyday life. Shinigami lieutenant Renji Abarai arrives, and forces Ichigo to claim that Renji is his cousin. Later that night, Orihime Inoue has a dream about her brother Sora, and is drawn into a large gate while three mysterious people observe. After Orihime disappears, Ichigo, Renji, Uryū Ishida, and Yasutora Sado try to find her. A mysterious girl contacts Renji on his cellphone, and reveals that Orihime will return to her house at 8:00. They find Orihime at that time, but she is an imposter. Chad is then taken by the three figures. After the loss of Chad, the caller instructs them to appear at the local museum for a continuation of her game. Once there, the museum turns in to a looping maze, with illusions and traps. Along the way, the group starts to splinter apart, as each is getting irritated, and wanting to go their own ways. As Ichigo and Renji start to walk off, Ishida notices a limitation of the illusion and plots a way out. When they escape the maze, it becomes apparent that the three mysterious people causing these issues are modified souls. Following this revelation, they make their escape, leaving Chad and Orihime behind. After leaving the museum, the group is confronted once more by the modified souls, who instruct them that one of their core group has been replaced by an imposter, and they must find out who that is before noon, or everyone in their entire school will be killed. Everyone is finding it very difficult to find the imposter while having to go through their normal school day. Part way though, Tatsuki disappears, calling for the utmost urgency to decide the fake. At the last minute, it is decided that the imposter was posing as Chad after it was revealed he did not know Yoruichi, but it is too late, for the modified souls had already kidnapped the students. Ichigo and the others are ready for the final game against the modified souls. Approaching the massive gate, the group is sucked in as Ichigo fails to use his bankai. After putting Chad into a giant hourglass, Ririn tells Ichigo and company that they have 5 minutes to defeat them and save Chad. Ichigo tries to use his bankai again, but still cannot. The hourglass breaks after this second attempt, and Chad is revealed to be completely unharmed. Ichigo then realizes that Urahara had created all of this to help the group come together and fight as one since Ichigo cannot simply rely on his bankai all the time. Urahara also found it necessary to bring the group together since Ishida has lost his powers as a Quincy. Meanwhile, Soifon and Yoruichi Shihōin have been dealing with the Bount phenomenon. Finding the remains of a soul, they rush away to the site of another attack. Arriving before the soul can be eaten, Yoruichi transforms and stops a strange woman from sucking out a soul from its body.

Bount Dossier, Rukia's Return, and Kariya's Debut

At the Urahara shop, the Bounts are discussed more in depth. They are humans, but like the Quincy, they also have special powers. By absorbing human souls they can live forever, but these souls are usually already dead. When a bount eats a live soul, they gain extra power and leave the complete death of a soul without the chance of reincarnation. Because the Bounts might attack Ichigo or his friends, Urahara has sent the modified souls with them for support as they all have spirit sensors. Kuroud with Orihime, Noba with Chad, and Ririn with Ichigo. It isn't soon after putting the modified souls in their respective dolls that they sense a bount. Ichigo and Ririn go after the female bount Yoruichi had fought (later called Yoshino Sōma), while Chad and Orihime find themselves facing a man who looks like a vampire (Udagawa). While Udagawa leaves before Orihime or Chad can do anything, Ichigo quickly chases Yoshino into a corner and faces off against her fiery doll, Geite. As Ichigo is about to be incinerated by the fire doll's final attack, Rukia returns and saves Ichigo. The fire doll doesn't give up though and continues its attacks, until it is captured by several snakes that have been made out of pipes. The other bount, Udagawa, has arrived and takes Yoshino away with the help of his snakelike doll. Everyone is glad that Rukia has returned, but the celebration is quick as concern about this new bount threat is growing. The group decides to continue the discussion at Ichigo's house. Elsewhere, Yoshino seems to be confirmed as the weakest of the bount, as she has not yet eaten a living soul. However, even Udagawa is taking orders from someone else, a large man with red eyes and a scar on his chin, named Jin Kariya.

Uryu Targeted and Kyoraku Confronts Mayuri

The next day after school, the group is alarmed of a bount attack. Udagawa has been rampaging through a shipping facility, eating almost all of the souls in the area. Calling forth the doll from earlier, Udagawa uses his doll's true power, creating other snakes out of the things around him, such as broken concrete or rope. Udagawa quickly finds Uryu as the weakest in the group and goes after him. Meanwhile, Yoshino has escaped again, despite being watched by Kariya. Udagawa eventually captures Uryu, but Yoshino takes Ishida away from him. As Ichigo and the others try to regroup and get Ishida back, Udagawa steps in their way, summoning wave after wave of snakes. Udagawa is finally beaten back by Ururu's bazooka, who has arrived with Renji, Jinta and Tessai. In the Soul Society, captain Shunsui Kyōraku has decided to take a visit to the 12th Division in order to see their data on the bount. However, captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi refuses to do Shunsui the favor of letting him see the data. Shunsui gently insults Mayuri as he leaves, which prompts an angry Mayuri to erase the data on the bount. But when he finds that he is unable to bring the data up, Mayuri goes into an upset rant. Ishida wakes up in a run down apartment room, surprised to see Yoshino calmly sitting next to him and his head wrapped in bandages. Yoshino can tell that Ishida has lost his power, and notes that she should have found another Quincy. Ishida quickly says that it is impossible, because he is the only Quincy left. Ichigo and company are called to a hospital as Ishida has checked in. When they arrive, Ishida tells the group what Yoshino told him about the bount. That Kariya intends to use the extra power gained when eating a living soul and use it to open a gateway to the "world of the dead", and that Kariya will target Ishida as he needs a Quincy.

The Water Twins

Uryu rests on the ninth floor of the hospital while Ichigo and company stand guard. The hospital room then floods with water which turns out to be dolls from unidentified Bount members. The dolls attempt to drown Ishida, but Uryu is rescued when Ichigo cuts the water dolls. The group then attempts to flee and they run into the two Bount members, Hō and Ban. The group then runs to the elevators and everyone except Ichigo an Renji take the elevator to the first floor while Ichigo and Renji hold off the water dolls. After the main group reaches the first floor, Ichigo and Renji jump down the elevator shaft and meet the group outside only to find that it is raining. The fight with Hō and Ban is far from over, as it is raining outside of the hospital. Attacking the massive pillars of water, Ichigo, Renji and Rukia are quickly swallowed up by the water dolls as Chad and Orihime quickly try and get Ishida to safety. Giving up on drowning Ichigo and the others, the twins decide to go after Ishida. Attacking Chad and Orihime, the twins seem to be gaining the upper hand, even when Chad uses his armor. Chad eventually goes after the twins and splits them apart, but unexpectedly their dolls collapse revealing that they have to combine their powers using telepathy in order to control their dolls. Hō and Ban quickly gain an advantage again though, forcing Ichigo and the others to drink their dolls, allowing them to rip their bodies apart from the inside out. However, Noba uses his power to move Hō and Ban far enough away from each other and weaken their control of their dolls. Ganju and Hanatarō also arrive soon after, and Ganju uses his fireworks to destroy the water dolls. In the process Hō and Ban are turned to ash. Ichigo and company have destroyed the twin Bounts, but now Uryu has gone missing.

Kariya's Ambitions and Ichinose's Return

As Ishida wanders aimlessly away from his friends, he runs into Yoshino again, who takes him back to her place and fixes him some coffee. Yoshino tells Ishida that sometimes when you live too long you'll start thinking crazy thoughts, and that sometimes, Bounts like Kariya will enact on those thoughts. Meanwhile, Kariya has called all the remaining Bounts together. Informing them that he has found a Quincy, and that their time has come for them to start a new shining era. In Soul Society, the entire 11th division is excited about the sudden presence of a former member, Maki Ichinose. However, Kenpachi Zaraki wants nothing to do with it, and tells everyone to just leave him alone. Kenpachi's thoughts flashback to when Ichinose once stood up against him when Kenpachi killed the former 11th Division captain in battle and was recognized as the new captain. Afterwards, Ichinose requested to leave the 11th Division as he no longer had a reason for being there, the only captain he would ever take orders from was gone. He now serves Kariya unquestionably, which Udagawa thinks is nothing but the easy way out.

Uryu Captured and Ichinose's Memories

Still deciding when to go and face Kariya, the tremendous Bount named Gō Koga breaks through the door to Yoshino's loft. Koga has been sent to bring Yoshino and Ishida to Kariya, but Yoshino will not let him without a fight. After bringing forth her fire doll, Koga also brings out his doll, Dalk, which consists of a collection of metallic objects that can take many forms. Capturing Ishida and Yoshino, Koga leaves before Ichigo and company can find them. However, the modified souls are able to track the Bounts' spiritual power if they change into their gigai form, which they hadn't thought of doing until then. Meanwhile in the Soul Society, Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi has called a meeting of all the captains and their vice captains. Someone has hacked into Mayuri's databank and stolen from it, also laying out a trap that if he tried to access it, the data would be locked. Mayuri is deeply upset over the matter and believes that there is a traitor amongst them. Afterwards, Kenpachi tells Yachiru Kusajishi that he is also suspicious of these events because after years of searching they've just recently found Maki Ichinose. But he is confused about how the two are related. Using the modified soul's tracking abilities, Ichigo and the others find that the Bounts have taken Uryu to an exclusive large mansion, where Kariya is making his introduction. Kariya wants to "borrow Uryu's powers" when the time comes to make the world better for both the Bounts and the Quincies. But Uryu is suspicious of Kariya, who believes that he simply wants to gain the power of the hollow world.

Kariya's Mansion

Ichigo's group is having a tough time navigating through the mansion thanks to Ugaki's strange eyeball-like dolls that keep getting in Ichigo's way. However, they have just been leading them to Kariya, who welcomes Ichigo. Kariya surprises Ichigo with his knowledge about him and Rukia, but Ichigo doesn't let it faze him and tells Kariya that he came to take Ishida back. Ichigo tells Rukia and the others to go and find Ishida while he deals with the bount. Rukia and the modified souls managed their way upstairs and are heading towards Ishida's spiritual energy. But they are stopped by Maki Ichinose. The three modified souls are easily defeated by Ichinose, who saw through their abilities easily. Rukia tries using a kidō spell, but Ichinose blocks it with his zanpakutō. He is still deeply disturbed by the method Kenpachi Zaraki used to become the captain of the 11th division, as it effectively shattered his life. But he also says that Kariya gave him a reason to live again, and now he wields his zanpakutō for him. However, upon feeling Ichigo's power rise, Ichinose becomes concerned for Kariya and runs to his aide. Udagawa is up first to fight Ichigo. Using a technique called the snake net, Ichigo is eventually surrounded by snakes even after using flash steps (shunpo) and is launched into a wall. As Udagawa's doll poises to strike again, Ichigo uses his getsuga tenshō. Udagawa then uses this chance created by Ichigo to betray Kariya and take his seal, however, even without his seal, Kariya is still strong enough to block Udagawa's doll. Ichinose also shows up and easily kills Udagawa after using his shikai. Afterwards, Ichinose starts to fight with Ichigo, as Ichigo had fought Kenpachi and defeated him. They are equally matched at first, despite Ichigo's inability to see Ichinose's sword, but when Ichinose uses the full power of his shikai, Ichigo is rendered almost completely helpless. As Ichigo finally escapes Ichinose's illusions, Kariya steps forward to fight with Ichigo, as he has started to gain an interest in Ichigo's soul. Ichinose remembers his past as a shinigami. That the captain that he had believed in and had worked so hard for was killed in battle by Kenpachi Zaraki. Ichinose wanted to cut Kenpachi down at that moment, but the entire division stopped him as the former captain was defeated in a formal bout. Trying to challenge Kenpachi to a formal bout of his own, Kenpachi says he'll consider it if Ichinose can even cut him. Ichinose fails to do this and deserts the 11th division for the human world. Following a hollow, Ichinose was worn down by the harsh arid environment of the human world. Unfortunately for him the hollow chose to attack when Ichinose was at his weakest. Ichinose was quickly defeated and just as he was about to be eaten by the hollow he was saved by Jin Kariya and Koga Gowa. It was then that Ichinose decided that he would follow Kariya for the rest of his life. The flashback ends as Kariya and Ichigo begin fighting. Just as the final blow is about to be struck, Yoruichi, Jinta and Ururu arrive, barraging the mansion with Ururu's bazooka while Yoruichi carries Ichigo away. Rukia and the modified souls also save Ishida and Yoshino and teleport outside to the other group. Yoruichi tells them its time to leave and they make their escape.

The Bitto

Exposition and Yoshino's Last Stand

In Soul Society, Mayuri Kurotsuchi has undone the lock on the Bount data and begins explaining the Bount and Quincy history to Captains Ukitake, Kyoraku, and Hitsugaya. At some point in the past, the Bounts and Quincy had a battle. During this time, the Bount started eating living human souls to increase their power. They came to the conclusion that, whenever the Bount are about to do something of a large scale, they absorb living human souls, leading them to believe that the number of living human souls attacked will escalate now that the current Bount situation is coming to a head. Ichigo is depressed after his struggle against Kariya. Even though he isn't afraid of Kariya, he still doubts whether or not he can beat him. Ganju arrives on break from his job at the convenience store, to raise Ichigo's spirits and get him out of his depressed state. Along with Renji, Ganju takes Ichigo to Urahara's basement where he and Renji double team against Ichigo until Ganju gets called back to the store by Hanatarō. After Ganju leaves, Renji forces Ichigo to realize how unfocused he has become. On the next day, Kariya is confronted by Yoshino Sōma in the ruins of the Bount mansion. They proceed to fight, and in a desperate bid to try and defeat Kariya, Yoshino merges with her Doll and the two engage in a fierce battle in the sky above the mansion. Sadly, everything goes according to Kariya's plans: he kills her easily and transmutes her soul to create new Dolls, called bitto.

Incursion

The Bitto collect and distill human souls, which can be absorbed by the Bount to gain power. Urahara decides that he and Renji should go and investigate the mansion, but sends Ichigo home with the puppets to come up with Bount countermeasures. In Karakura Town, humans are being attacked by the bitto, which suck out their souls and reduce their bodies into dust. They then return to the Bounts and provide them with purified souls to drink in order to increase their power. Members of Soifon's second division attack the bitto, but are ineffective against them. Hitsugaya orders more shinigami to enter the human world, noting that they cannot rely on Ichigo alone. After consuming the power of the bitto, Kariya tells the Bounts to go test out their new powers while he retires to his room. Yoshi attacks Rukia, Orihime and Kurodo while they are on there way to help Renji. Sending Jinta and Ururu ahead, Rukia and Inoue start fighting with Yoshi, who prefers to fight in close-combat with her doll. Meanwhile, Ichigo runs into Koga while he is trying to save Keigo Asano from having his soul consumed by a bitto. Bringing out Dalk, the female doll's body has been enhanced and is now much larger and spiderlike than before. Ichigo has trouble attacking and defending against the tanklike doll, especially since he has to protect a paralyzed Keigo at the same time. Despite giving it an effort, Ichigo is quickly caught by Dalk's metal net and is beaten nearly to death. Ichigo's eyes close as the hollow takes over his body and defeats the powerful doll with ease. But Ichigo quickly regains control and rips the hollow mask from his face, although he is almost completely spent and collapses afterwards.

Lieutenants to the Rescue

Just before Koga orders Dalk to finish off Ichigo, Izuru Kira intervenes. Kira and Ichigo team up and are able to back koga and Dalk into a corner, Izuru uses Wabisuke to immobilize Dalk, and Koga gains the upper hand on Ichigo and is about to finish him off, but he then realizes that Dalk is in trouble and retreats. Izuru and Ichigo then take Keigo to the Urahara Shop so that Hanataro can nurse him back to health. Meanwhile Mabashi comes to fight Rukia, Kurodo and Orihime,(while being drunk with the power he gained from the bitto. Yoshi gets scared of him and leaves, while Mabashi uses his doll, Ritz, to take control of Rukia's mind. Shuhei Hisagi arrives to help them, but Orihime insists that she should be the one to fight Rukia because she believes that it is her fault that Rukia was able to become mind-controlled. Orhime manages to get Ritz out of Rukia's body, and Shuhei attempts to kill Mabashi before he can run away, but fails in doing so when Maki Ichinose protects him and manages to get him back to the Bount hideout. Afterwords Rangiku spots Chad, Ururu and Noba about to engage in a battle with the Bount Sawatari. She decides to lead them to victory by coming up with a plan to defeat him, but everyone is overwhelmed by the ability of Sawatari's doll, Baura, which lets him and Sawatari go underground into another dimension, making them impervious to any attacks while underground. Their miscalculation causes Ururu to become swallowed whole by Baura. They devise a plan to mix Noba's warp ability with Rangiku's kido to make Baura and Sawatari disappear into another dimension, this plan works momentarily but they end up coming back because they are to powerful. Rangiku realizes that they are no match for this Bount and decide to retreat.